Former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Akwasi Opong-Fosu has suggested that while digital transformation can bring significant improvements and efficiencies to various sectors within the country, it is not a cure-all solution for deeper economic issues.
Addressing the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), at the UG-TEIN annual meeting, themed: ‘The Role of the Youth in Building the Ghana We Want Together’, the former minister of Local Government and Rural Development Akwasi Opong-Fosu disputed the digital transformation agenda as a means to reviving the Ghanaian economy.
“Otherwise, why would someone pick a Dutch passport and say, I value this than a Ghanaian PhD? All these are indicators of the situation that we are in. Just in the week, family members who traveled to bring their dead [body] to Ghana disappeared…disappeared and abandoned their relative’s body. It tells a lot. It tells a lot of things happening in this country. So, I’m winding up by saying that this idea of debate and less debate and all that, you have a broken-down vehicle.”
“You have a broken-down vehicle; That’s the economy and you say, I have fuel, V-Power. No, I’ve got V-Power to move this vehicle. Who does that? The noise about digitalization and digital transformation does not add up. You, you, you, digitalization is a catalyst. If the economy has collapsed, you cannot use digital transformation to redeem yourself. It is also one of the diversions.”
He also encouraged members of TEIN to collaborate with the youth of the university body to actively work together to vote out the NPP administration.
“So, you acknowledge that what is happening now and our role is not limited to the NDC youth, but the youth of Ghana. We have something at stake. So, what it means is that we need to hold hands and do the needful, and I believe you know what the needful is. Who can tell me? To vote them out. The youth of this country should hold hands, united around a common cause to vote these people out. That’s the only way we can build the Ghana that we want.”
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Story by: Vannessa Nyasi Mensah | univers.ug.edu.gh
